Convergence
by onryoii
Summary: Sollux is a mental patient aboard a hospital ship bound for an interterrestrial city complex called The Hive. After the death of his matesprit Aradia, he never thought he'd have to dig up the experience and memories of his past to survive another necromorph outbreak or have to work together with a group of others to make it out while facing down his past. Dead Spacestuck.
1. Chapter 1

_Time Log_

_0600_  
_**AHS-012 Serendipity: Docking into landing bay 314 of interterrestrial space station; The Hive._  
_0800_  
_***AHS-012 Serendipity: Hazmat alarms pulled in lab room #347 _  
_0820_  
_***AHS-012 Serendipity: Emergency shut down. Initiated._  
_Engines 1-4 beginning cool down process. Engines 5-10 beginning cool down process._  
_Emergency shut down complete_  
_All engines. Offline._  
_Flight deck. Offline._  
_0900_  
_C:\ CAPTAIN LOSLOW MORGIN_  
_ EMERGENCY BYPASS CODE: 194834 at 0840_  
_Initiated._  
_Bypass code. Denied. Unable to process code 194834 at circuit entry 3.22. _  
_C:\EMERGENCY BYPASS CODE: 19...coding halted at 0904._  
_Warning: Further attempts to initiate override will result in motherboard lockdown._  
_C:\ EMERG..._  
_Bypass denied. CAPTAIN LOSLOW MORGIN restricted from motherboard access. _  
_1000_  
_Downloading surveilence feed from file:/c:/medbay/#29-32experimentallab/& .s/timed0700+._  
_Image processing completed. Contamination inside ship: 97. Outside scanners detect additional biochemical disturbances ranging from 234 and growing._  
_***AHS-012 Serendipity initiating ship lockdown. Lockdown completed at 1030._

_1447_  
_C:\Initiating clearance: __)(-ELLO S-ER-ENDIPITY 38)_  
_...Good day FEFERI PEIXES. Clearance granted._  
_C:\__PL-EAS-E OP-EN T)(-E DOORS_  
_Request approved. Doors will open once proper restart phase is complete. Estimated time 30:00...29:99...29:98..._  
_C:\__O)( AND S-ER-ENDIPITY. OPEN THE STASIS PODS.__  
Right away, NURSE PEIXES._

* * *

The maximum security section of the Alternian Hospital Ship Serendipity was where the most dangerous and unstable of the patients were kept; safely locked away from the less dangerous individuals and those who had no knowledge of its existence at all.

And it was where Sollux Captor was starting to come to.

The short tug of a needle pulling from his arm was registered through the heavy haze of sedatives carefully being administered into his system was the first thing his numbed nerves picked up on.

Why had they needed to use the sedatives on him in the first place?

Somewhere through the congealed molasses that was his thinkpan he made the brief recollection of launching one of the doctor's across the room with a burst of psionics when he'd tried to give him a dose of medication in the form of an injection.

Lips twitched softly in what would probably be guessed as a simple spasming of the muscles as the body began to restart its normal functions but, in actuality, it was an attempt at a smirk that his slowed body couldn't follow through with all the way.

His brows did manage to furrow softly as a muffled, robotic voice resounded against the inside of the pod he was in. What was it saying? Fuck, he couldn't even concentrate right now let alone worry about what was going on with this shitty ass stasis pod.

Yet he tried to listen anyways.

"_Signs of life detected in pod number 22. Sedatives have been fully removed from patient. Beginning serial sequence 423 to-"_

He didn't have to hear the rest. He already knew this routine. The pod would shut down the stasis probes that kept him encased within to prevent injury to himself in the chance that he had another panic attack like he had various times before. After that, the plexiglass door in front of him would open and there would be doctors to help him as he-

A sharp yelp of surprise left his lips as he lifted a leg to take a step out of the pod and instead of staggering into waiting hands, the room tilted sharply and he went sprawling onto the ground.

Well, he may not have been fully awake just then but the sharp crack he got to his forehead in the fall certainly helped speed up the process.

The lowblood decided there that staying on the floor was the better of the two options at the moment. The cool floor provided some minimal comfort to the steady throb that was building inside his skull. He always got headaches coming out of stasis so gracelessly slamming his head on the ground didn't help matters any.

He was becoming increasingly aware of the fact that _no one _was rushing to his aid. Not that he was complaining. It was nice not to have the doctors and psychologists prodding at him every five seconds but it was indeed strange...

And very quiet.  
Why was it so quiet?

The psionic finally lifted his head off the ground to actually observe his surroundings. The first thing he noted was the sudden lack of white suits bustling about and the second was the fact it was darker than normal. The bright, florescent lights that were usually practically blinding him by this point were out and the only light source was the two or three lamps that were left on at the computer desks around the room. The room which had clearly been left as quickly as possible; papers scattered everywhere and someone had even left the faucet turned on at the sink. Even Sollux knew that meant something had happened. The uptight assholes that ran the place would never leave it in such a state if they had their way.

It was about time he figured out what the fuck was going on. Drawing his long legs underneath him, he sought out a hand for the edge of a table to help pull him upright, grunting at the ache that ran down his hip and knee. Oh yeah, that shit was going to be bruised as fuck before the day was out.

Speaking of which, what time was it?

So many questions but first thing first. He made his way across the room, nearly tripping more than once as his clumsy feet snagged the legs of chairs that hadn't been pushed in and once almost falling over again. He was starting to suspect that they used sedatives to get their own shits and giggles because it was hell trying to readjust after coming off of them. But, he managed to avoid making a complete idiot out of himself and more or less dove for the sink as he reached it, a hand slamming down onto the lifted handle to shut off the steady stream of water with an exasperated sigh. That hissing of water had been practically dragging nails across the lining of his thinkpan.

A brief wave of nausea hit him hard and fast and it took a lot to keep from leaning over the sink and puking his guts out. Oh fuck, initiating reason number 23 of why he hated sedatives. Lips pursed into a thin line as he swallowed down the bitter tang in his mouth; slowly easing himself down to crouch near the foot of the sink, his head leaning forward to rest against the cool metal edge.

_'Oh gog. Don't puke, don't puke, don't puke, don't-'_

A sudden banging resounded through the room and Sollux fell backwards onto his butt, looking around quickly before he scrambled backwards to hide underneath a table. Wait, hiding from what? It soon clicked as to why he'd reacted in such a manner as wrenching metal followed from the wall across the room and something he'd never thought he'd see again climbed down onto the floor.

The sight of the pointed blades and the soft clicking of them against the ground as the creature crawled slowly across the room made a shiver dance up his spine and his blood ran cold in a matter of second. The grey flesh of what should have been a normal troll had turned a sickly color; bruises splotching against the surface. From the looks of it, the troll had been a blue-blood at one point but the vibrant color it should have been was diluted into a dark, murky appearance as if someone had mixed blue ink into a mud puddle. He couldn't see much from his current position but there glass window adjacent to him managed to show a fairly decent reflection of what was across the room.

The ragged breathing and guttural sounds drew gradually closer and Sollux barely realized just how hard his yellow claws were scraping against the ground. He needed a weapon. He needed-...he needed a plasma cutter...or, or...

The sounds stopped suddenly and a low growl picked up in its stead; one Sollux knew too well. From the window, he could see the crouched shape stand up onto its legs and shuffle along down the aisle, the bladed growths from its back flexing witch each move it made and all the close encounters he'd had with the pointy things came trickling back into his mind. Every dark corner he'd turned and ended up coming face to face with...with _that_. A grimace crossed his features as the necromorph passed by a lamp; the light illuminating it just enough for him to make out the face...or lack thereof. What had once been a face had been ripped in half so the jaw hung loosely and a set of pincers grew out of the cheeks; glowing yellow eyes searching around the room for the troll it clearly knew was around.

A mutated foot stepped onto the floor in front of him and it took all of Sollux's willpower not to gag. Luckily, he managed to swallow down the noise and merely stared with wide eyes at the murky blue footprint that was left. Slowly, he steeled his nerves and began to inch down the length of the table towards the exit. Each soft pat of his hand against the floor or the third time his foot accidently bumped against a chair made his blood pusher leap into his throat and he thought for sure the table was going to get flipped and he'd have to resort to a hand-to-necromorph fight for his life.

But perhaps luck was on his side for once.

A sudden clattering of something being knocked off a table made him start in surprise and he looked back over his shoulder to see that the necromorph had simply knocked off a stapler from the table; most likely having knocked it off with one of those damned appendages of his. It took a few moments of careful calculations of his situation and self-assurance to get him to pry his eyes away and back to the path ahead of him.

Instead of seeing the underside of the table, he found himself staring into blank white eyes.

"Aradia..." He breathed softly, quickly realizing what he'd done and covered his mouth with a hand, throwing a brief look back to the necromorph who'd heard it as well and had abandoned its examination of the stapler in favor of searching for the noise source with renewed vigor. Sollux turned his attention ahead of him only to see that the girl was gone. It wasn't the first time it'd happened. This was what he was locked away in the mental ward for after all. He was just some crazy lowblood who kept having visions of his dead matesprit that often ended with him yelling at nothing or trying to hurt himself even if he didn't mean to. He didn't know why it was happening but they always seemed so real, so vivid! Yet no one else seemed the least bit aware of the girl's presence but him.

Maybe he _was _just going crazy...  
Well, obviously that's what everyone else thought. He just didn't see how something he could touch, _feel _even, could be just a figment of his imagination. Call it denial but- wait, why was he thinking about this now?

The sound of something jumping up onto the table pulled him from his reverie and it was then he decided running was the best option at the moment. Fuck quiet when it was, literally, on top of him.

A deep, calming breath was sucked through his mouth and released slowly. It was now or never.

He dove out from underneath the table, scrambling to his feet that already knew what to do before he did; carrying him away from the necromorph who hadn't expected its prey to show itself so quickly and out the doors of the lab. It seemed the lab wasn't the only place that had been abandoned in a hurry; papers were scattered even in the halls, chairs knocked over...

Smearings of blood.

The sounds of the creature chasing after him was drowned out by his own racing thoughts. Gog, a fucking RIG that wasn't made out of the flimsy white material that the hospital ones were would've been pretty fucking wonderful right about now. A weapon would've been even better.

Unfortunately, he didn't think he could successfully bludgeon the necromorph to death using the bottle of cleaning solution he'd just passed up. Maybe throwing a chair would at least slow it down- oh fuck.

His shoes squealched against the slick puddle of blood he'd just ran into and the necromorph that had caused it. A moment of silence passed as if both were trying to figure out what to do next about the unexpected appearance. Sollux carefully began to back away from the scene as a ragged hiss sounded from the open jaws; blades pushing against the ground to help it back on its feet as it took steady steps towards the source of warm flesh that had come running so willingly to it. A shriek around the corner alerted him to the presence of the previous bastard he'd been running away from. They usually didn't work in packs but they seemed more than willing to share a piece of the lowblood at the moment.

So this was what it felt like to have your shit royally fucked, huh?

Dichromatic eyes narrowed defiantly and he braced himself for a fight. He hadn't wanted to get into this just yet for a reason. The sedatives they gave him had a nasty habit of fucking with his psionics longer than anything else and who knew if they'd even be able to do much damage at all. Judging from the way the glow of blue and red that engulfed his hands flickered in and out almost in a warning manner was enough to make the assumption that this wasn't going to go how Sollux had planned.

The clammy feeling of sweat at his brow and the hard thumping of his blood pusher against his ribs was something he was accustomed to when prowling through the bloodied halls of the facility on Exenus 9. The place where he'd gone to search for Aradia and where he'd found a world of blood and pain that he'd never expected to find even in his darkest nightmares. Hell, it _had _been one of the darkest nightmares for him in the end. He'd barely made it out alive and found out Aradia had been dead long before he could even get there to save her. Here he'd thought that maybe that would be the end of it. That he could let everything go and try to move on with his life but no. First it was the fucking visions starting up. Brief glimpses of her out of the corner o his eyes before soon enough she was popping up in front of him; just as he'd remember her one second. Dark, long, wavy hair tucked behind a ear and a smile quirking at her red lips. He'd blink, and there would be blood dripping from her white eyes and she was always angry. So, so angry.

And now he had to deal with necromorphs again. With how things were turning out for him so far, he wouldn't have to deal with them for long.

"I won't be an eathy kill for you nookthniffing athwipeth." His own voice sounded so foreign to him; almost hoarse from disuse since the only people he'd had to talk to were the doctors and they weren't the best conversationalists. They only wanted to know what was going on inside his head. And Aradia...well, there was only so much you could say to an angry, dead girl.

Just as the distance between the two closed in on him, a soft whistle sounded up from the other end of the dark hall. For a moment, Sollux thought he was hearing things on top of his hallucinations but clearly he wasn't the only one who'd heard it. The necromorphs had stopped for a moment to listen and, sure enough, it sounded again. A lilting, haunting sort of melody that Sollux would swear up and down over the next few seconds that he had heard before.

The trance-like state that had taken hold of the area was broken as a soft click and the clattering of aluminum rolling down the hall towards them bounced off the walls. What happened next was practically a rush of images and sound.

The clattering noise, he found out, was actually a strobe which lit up seconds later. The blinding light earned a cry of pain from both the necromorphs and Sollux who was entirely unprepared for it. He stumbled forwards, lifting a hand to try to shield away the steady pulses of light in the dark corridor. Somewhere through the ringing in his ears and the screeches of the necromorphs as they flailed out wildly to try to locate the source to make it stop, he detected footsteps running up on him. Turning about in a quick circle to locate the sound, he instead ran smack into something solid and nearly fell over completely until long fingers wrapped around his bicep and yanked him upright. It took a simple matter of squinting his eyes to make out the tall outline before him against the harsh glare of the strobe. He was tall but this figure stood a good foot over him and the tall horns on top of its head didn't help matters.

"I'm going to up and assume here that you know how to motherfucking walk, right? 'Cause we abscond while the fuckers are getting their rave on." He was all but dragged after the individual but he soon found his footing along with the militaristic commands of his sudden savior as they ran, the flashing strobe and angry necromorphs' shrieks fading the further they went.

"Left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot, left foot- see? Just keep going forwards. Ain't a motherfuckin' thing to it."

* * *

**A/N: **So, this is the start of my Dead Spacestuck AU fic which was inspired by freedomconvicted/timeanddivision on tumblr. I did draw some pictures of the characters that are going to be in the story for sure so far but I will add others if I decide what part they'll play. You can check it out on the deadspacestuck tag on my tumblr (which is 'onryoii' btw) since I can't add a hyperlink for some reason. :I


	2. Chapter 2

Sollux wasn't sure how long they'd been running but judging from the burning sensation that had begun to lace itself up the muscles of his legs and form into a ball of pain just underneath the curve of his ribs, it was long enough.

Thankfully, the stranger he'd been running along with finally deemed it was safe enough to stop and opened a nearby door with a small press of his fingers on the central hologram; grabbing onto Sollux to drag him along.

At the assuring sound of the doors shutting behind them, Sollux allowed his lanky frame to wilt against the nearest wall with ragged pants. He wasn't fucking made for running a gogdamn triathlon! A brief glance towards his current partner showed that he wasn't the least bit winded. Fuck, he didn't even look tired! His lips pursed into a thin line at the trickling of irritation and jealousy in the back of his mind.

Fucking asshole.

Though he _had_ just saved him from getting his chest filleted like a fish so his mild frustration with how this skinny bastard somehow was unfazed by the exercise would have to wait. A few careful breaths later gave him enough energy to speak and he straightened himself up to watch the wild-haired troll slip across the room to carefully check the other rooms connected to theirs, "Uhm...not to thound like a complete athhole and all, but...who are you exactly?" Sollux had ran through his calculated list of trolls he'd met during his stay aboard Serendipity but he'd never once met this troll...

Or seen him for that matter.

But judging from the white leggings of his suit he was another patient. It was just a general guess though. He couldn't quite see the hospital ward label on the shoulder of his sleeve since it was currently tied around his waist but the way he moved so slowly and carefully, as if pondering every move he made, was almost assurance enough.

Sollux received no answer for a couple of breaths before the indigo-blood seemed to have decided the room was safe enough to his liking and took a few long strides back over to where Sollux stood. "Captor."

The simple comment earned the highblood a slight raise of a dark brow in quesiton, "Your name'th Captor?"  
"No, _your_ name's Captor."  
"Yeth...or 'Thollux' workth juth fine too..."  
Man this guy was weird. But a better question was how the fuck did he know his name?

"Sollux Captor. Patient number 22. Symptoms consist of sporadic psionics, being a jumpy motherfucker, random outbursts, flailin' around at nothing, and some severe as fuck migraines." He rattled off quickly, ticking off each symptom against one of his thin fingers; folding the digits into a thoughtful fist as he pondered it over for a second before nodding, certain that he'd gotten everything.

The look of utter shock on his face was probably something worthy to catalogue in a photo album. Red and blue eyes narrowed defensively and his lips slowly pulled into a snarl, "I'm not going to athk you again. Who the _fuck_are you?"

The lazy smile that gently pressed at the corners of Gamzee's lips was still present but it seemed, suddenly, much more different. Perhaps it was just Sollux's overactive imagination getting the better of him but he could've sworn the gentle glint in his eyes darkened away to turn the vibrant shade of indigo his irises were into a murkier color.

"I'm Gamzee Makara. Now," The long legs took another stride towards Sollux to lessen the distance between them and he carefully bent down a bit to get a better look at the lowblood before him, "Who are _you_?"

Lips parted to start an answer but only air left him as he studied the calm look on Gamzee's face. His eyes seemed to be practically burning a hole through him as if they expected him to pick up on some universal answer to the meaning of life or some shit. That coupled with his question rendered Sollux into a state of thoughtful silence.

Who was he? He was Sollux Captor!  
...Wasn't he?

His gaze finally broke away from Gamzee's to look down to the front of his own white uniform where a badge sporting the name 'Captor' was labeled across in perfectly stitched, black lettering.

"Do you remember?"

The soft voice breaking the hushed silence made him lift his gaze back to Gamzee who seemed to have relaxed back into his normal posture; weight settled onto his left leg, shoulders slouched, and hands shoved deep into the pockets of his suit.

"Remember?" He repeated, brows meeting together. Remember what? If he left the stove on? If he'd forgotten to set the alarm before he left home prior to taking his trip to Exenus 9? _What_?!

A sudden hand landing between his horns snapped him from his thoughts and patted him softly in a manner that inexplicably infuriated him. It seemed almost mocking but it was just a feeling he got; maybe he was reading too much into it.

"Don't toss your thinkpan over it too much." Gamzee commented simply before chewing on his lip, the action catching Sollux's attention long enough to note the faint scars against the flesh that suggested he'd bitten it before numerous times and much harder than he was now. The slight tilt Gamzee's head took as he looked off at something across the room provided the faint light coming from the lamp nearby to catch the slightly raised sign of old scar tissue that ran in three lines across his face. Hardly noticeable unless you really were studying him or knew what to look for.

Gamzee finally seemed to realize he was being stared at as his eyes narrowed for a quick moment but it was gone before Sollux could even blink and the male was wandering off to rummage around in a closet.

"What are you doing?" He ventured finally in an exasperated tone, stepping his own way over the jagged remains of a broken bowl to peer over his shoulder. A yelp left his lips as Gamzee righted himself and carelessly swung a gun out, nearly knocking him over the head with it in the process. He ducked out of the way and to the side, placing a hand on the barrel to keep him from pointing the thing at him. Who knew if it was loaded after all.

"Think this would be a bit of a motherfuckin' blessing to have around?" He ventured, shaking the weapon a bit as if that would make it work and Sollux promtply decided it was best to take it off his hands before he ended up shooting him or even himself. "I don't know..." He mused, pulling the weapon out of his hands to turn over onto its side, fingers ghosting along the cold metal. "Oh fuck, no. Thith ith a decommissioned model of the pulthe rifle they uthed to uthe way back when. Thith thing hath a better chance of blowing up on _uth_inthtead of the necromorphth." He grumbled irritably before setting it down on the table. Granted...they could still use it to bludgeon something to death.

And now was a good time to test the theory.

The sound of something running down the hall outside of the room seemed to be getting closer and Sollux plucked up the useless hunk of metal to make his way to the door to listen. The sounds of the steps wasn't as sporadic as a necromorph's would've been and far too evenly spaced. But who else would be alive on the ship? From what he'd seen everyone had already bailed out or was killed. There was really only one way to find out.

As the steps got closer, Sollux pressed against the door to open it and lunged outside, raising the gun over his shoulder to get ready to slam whatever had been unfortunate enough to run into the business end of his current weapon over the head.

He didn't expect to see a pair of fuchsia eyes staring back at him in surprise and the girl let out a startled yelp, nearly tripping over herself as she scrambled out of range.

"What the honetht fuck ith _wrong_with you?!" He demanded, lowering the weapon once he'd realized it was, in fact, someone living and breathing which was a miracle in itself. Whoever she was, she seemed content to keep herself plastered against the wall as her eyes roamed over him behind the lenses of her glasses. She was actually pretty cute despite having just been running through a ship infested with bloodthirsty necromorphs.

He realized his stand-offish attitude wasn't going to get him anywhere with her after what she'd probably been through and he heaved a sigh. A hand lifted to run itself over the back of his flippy hair, "Look, I-"  
"Captor..."

Ok, what was it with everyone saying his last name today? Honestly. It was getting really fucking annoying.

"You're Sollux Captor! Oh thank gog, I've been looking for you everywhere!"

Woah, wait. She was _looking_for him?

He had half a mind to start demanding answers then and there but he was quick remember they were out in a hallway and in the open. Not the best time to have a fucking discussion over afternoon tea. "I-... Come here." He stated curtly, grabbing her arm before pulling her off into the room; brushing aside Gamzee who'd been curiously watching the spectacle unfold from there.

A small wave of his hand was enough to usher Gamzee aside as he lead the girl into the room, sitting her down at a table before snapping his fingers at Gamzee as an indication for him to get his skinny ass over there as well. "Would thomeone _pleathe_tell me what the fuck ith going on here?" He mused, trying to keep his tone level and anger in check, "For thtarterth, _thith_ athhole knowth an entire medical diagnothith on me and now _you_ come waltzin' down the hall thaying you were _looking_for me. Why?"

Dark lips bunched together in a thoughtful manner before the girl finally took a breath to exhale along with a sigh. "I can't tell you everything-"  
"Why the fuck no-"  
"Not _yet_." She interrupted with a stern look to silence him, "But I can tell you why I need you and why you need me." Her boots scuffed lightly along the floor as she scooted herself up in the chair some, her hands folding on a knee as she crossed her legs, "My name is Feferi Peixes. I'm a nurse on this ship that was helping out with the mental ward patients."

Sollux's lips quirked into a soft frown. Peixes... Yes, he remembered her. She occasionally popped into his sessions with the psychiatrist to take down notes before leaving without a word. Occasionally she was one of the ones who would come to give him his medication and he supposed the only reason he didn't try to flip her across the room like the others was because she was always so nice about it; smiling where the others dealt with him like he was some pesky insect they couldn't get rid of fast enough.

"Yeah, I remember you. Tho what'th thith all about? Why ith it happening again?"

She seemed a bit reluctant to answer that but Gamzee spoke up in her stead. Indigo eyes turned to the table in front of him as his hands reached out to grab a napkin that were nearby and began to fold the corner of it idly back and forth, "They want what's all up and holed up inside our fucking thinkpans. Ain't that right, little miss?" His eyes flickered upwards to lock onto Feferi through the fringe of his bangs.

Fuschia eyes looked back at the male for a moment before she finally nodded in agreement, "Yes. Well, not _us_ specific-...look." She stated, brows furrowing as her gaze turned back to Sollux, "We need to get off of this ship as quickly as possible. I managed to override Serendipity's emergency lockdown phase but it won't last. When I left the mainframe room she was opening them in thirty minutes which means we only have fifteen left now to get to the ramp. Once the doors open they'll only be open for five minutes before they shut again and I don't think I could make it back to the mainframe room to try it again after having barely gotten down here in one piece myself."

Well, that was a bit of predicament.

"That thtill doethn't tell me why you need me though." Sollux snapped, eyes narrowing onto the seadweller.

A soft flush crossed her cheeks and pointed teeth nibbled softly against her bottom lip before she finally stood up to reach into the back pocket of her RIG and pulled out a touchpad. "I don't know who you are exactly, Sollux, but I do know you've been through something like this before and, let's face it, there's no way I could survive this on my own." She explained as she tapped through some various files on the device, "I'm not asking for you to get me off this thing completely. I just need you to help me find my matesprit."

"Matethprit?" Sollux repeated with a raised brow, tilting his head lightly to try to get a better look at whatever she was doing on the touchpad.

"Yes." She confirmed with a light nod, flipping through the contents of a file she'd just opened before turning the device to show the screen to Sollux. The troll on the screen looked severely miffed at having been caught on camera. A surprise shot no doubt. Violet eyes narrowed accusingly at the photographer from behind thick-rimmed glasses. Sollux didn't even know who the guy was but everything about him seemed haughty; from the way his scarf was wrapped just so around his neck to the way every single strand of his dark hair was styled back out of his face except for a few flippy pieces that curled loosely against is forehead. No doubt he was proud of his blood color too with the way he was sporting that purple streak through his dark hair.

"His name's Eridan Ampora. He works with the government sector in The Hive as one of the squad leaders. They're going to be looking for you, yes, but you don't have to go near them. I just need you to help me find him and that will be that. You can go on your own way and I promise not to breathe a word of this to anyone."

His attention moved from Feferi and back to the picture on the touchpad for a moment; his nose soon wrinkling softly, "He lookth like a complete douchebag. And hith glatheth are fucking huge. Could they get any bigger?"

A sudden grin lit across the seadweller's lips as she pulled the touchpad away to tap on something else and flipped the screen back around to him to reveal a picture of a young girl with a wild mess of hair and pink goggles dressed in a ruffly pink bathing suit. Alongside her was the same male from before only much younger and dressed in a pair of dark purple swim trunks. Both trolls were grinning widely and Sollux could clearly make out the dash of dark freckles across the bridge of Eridan's nose and cheeks just under the rim of his glasses that seemed ten times bigger on him. Even Feferi was sporting a light pattering of freckles against her cheeks but they were nowhere near as dark," He is a bit of a Mr. Grumpy Gills sometimes but he's really sweet when no one else is around. I wouldn't want anyone else to have to be my matesprit."

"Ok, tho I wath wrong about how big the glatheth could get... And 'have to be'?" Sollux repeated, brows furrowing and the grin on his face from the picture slid away into a perplexed frown.

Feferi must've realized what she'd said for she pursed her lips softly and put away the touchpad, "Well, I am the heiress after all... The Condesce wanted me to be with someone of high, respectable standing and...well... Eridan and I had been friends for sweeps and he was already on a promising path so it was easy enough to mutually come to an agreement to fill in that quadrant with one another." It'd been easier than having to deal with finding someone that had the Condesce's approval along with it being someone she could actually stand to be around. "She also thought working on Serendipity would be a good learning experience for me but, well, clearly staying home would've been a better idea."

Sollux folded his arms over his chest with a heavy sigh as he studied the girl before him. Fuck. He couldn't say no to that pleading look she was giving him and it wouldn't settle easily on his conscious to make her fend for herself. "Fine." He eventually groused before furrowing his brows sternly, "But I don't want you trying to pull fucking rank on me. We're doing thith _my_ way, underthtand?"

The girl straightened up her posture at once and gave him a sharp salute, "Understood, sir!"

This is was going to be a tiring experience, he could already feel it.

"...Ith there thomewhere where we can get thome actual weaponth or are we thtuck with thith piethe of junk?" He ventured, indicating to the old rifle on the table. Slender brows furrowed for a moment before she finally bobbed her head in agreement, "Yes. There's some weapons in the office that were confiscated off of residents here. Too dangerous to keep in rooms they said. They're not the best but they're better than that." Head tilted lightly towards the object of Sollux's disdain.

"Good." He stated before running his hands through his dark hair, "Let'th get going then." He headed for the door with Feferi in tow and he threw a quick look over his shoulder to Gamzee who was bent over the table doing something, "GZ, you coming or what?"

The indigo-blood started at the voice and lifted his head to give him a quick nod. He slid the last piece of torn up napkin into place before standing up, abandoning the crude structure of the Marker where it lay.


	3. Chapter 3

The ship was quieter than what he'd expected it to be and for a brief, twisted moment, the thought crossed his mind that maybe there were more survivors on board. It would explain why there was a lack of necromorphs jumping out of vents at them or skulking around corners, waiting for the unsuspecting.

They were too busy hunting down easier prey.

Sollux pushed the thought from his mind, after all, he had more important matters to be focusing on.

"Here."

His gaze slid away from the dim hallway they'd been making their way down and over to Feferi who had indicated to a set of steel doors. A lift of his gaze to examine the sign above showed 'Office of Affairs' flickering just slightly; causing the dark lettering to glitch in and out of focus.

"Well, leth get thith shit and go." He encouraged in a hushed whisper, throwing a brief glance over his shoulder to Gamzee to make sure he was still there. He was, a fact Sollux found slightly surprising considering the male had tended to space off now and then so who was to say he wouldn't go wandering off in one of his dazed states.

A few series of soft beeps sounded and a sudden flash of red appeared in his peripheral vision. Looking away from Gamzee, Sollux found Feferi bent over a control panel on the wall next to the door, her fuschia eyes narrowed at the holographic screen that had apparently rejected whatever code she'd entered. Once the notification went away and brought the keyboard back up, her fingers danced quickly along the keys labeled in Alternian letters and numbers but the results were the same.

"Fuck!" She hissed, smashing a hand down onto the keyboard and received another, almost mocking, rejection.

"Well, hitting it'th not going to do much." Sollux mused which earned him a stern glare. Deciding to do some damage control, he sighed and made his way over to stand next to her, "What'th it doing exthactly?"

The glare she'd been giving him lessened away into a soft, thoughtful purse of her dark lips. "I'm not sure..." She admitted after a moment, lifting a hand to her mouth to gently bite down against her thumbnail, "There's only one password to get into the office after hours and it's rejecting it for some reason. I mean, I could go to the control room again but it'd just be wasting time an-." A soft squeak left her lips as she was promptly bumped aside by the lanky lowblood and frowned; watching as he bent down to examine the panel, "What are you doing?"

"Well..." Sollux began with a grunt as he reached a hand behind the panel, fingers brushing along the wall, fingers feeling for the wire he needed, "I don't think they made me a computer programmer for no reathon." His brows furrowed softly as he felt over the notches of the wiring hooked up into the panel, a grin lighting across his face as he found the one he wanted. Curling the thick wire around his fingers, he gave a sharp yank and a few sparks later, the panel flickered and went dark.

"Thee? That wathn't tho hard." Feferi's gaze turned to the voice that hovered over her shoulder. Her eyes narrowed behind the rims of her glasses and she promptly swatted a hand into Sollux's stomach in response for his smartass comment.

"Let's just get the guns and go."

The office had clearly been abandoned; papers were strewn haphazardly across the ground and chairs were overturned, computers left online... Not at all different from the lab. Feferi carefully picked here way around the legs of a chair that had been knocked over while Gamzee ventured in next, his eyes roaming over the mess of the room after Feferi who was already wandering further inside towards another set of doors tucked away on the right of the registration desk.

Of course, another key code awaited them and Feferi entered it, half expecting it to not even work. However, she was pleasantly surprised to see the holographic screen flash green and the doors slip open. "Well, that worked out nicely." She declared, stepping inside while Sollux followed after her with a soft snort, "They were probably in too much of a hurry to bother with making sure they locked down everything.

Feferi decided to simply let it go in favor of turning her attention onto the array of weaponry shelves that were lined with various firearms; smaller versions of plasma cutters all the way to something that looked like a bazooka. Granted, everything in the room had been retired from the Alternian military and was, therefore, the only reason those aboard Serendipity had even been able to get them in the first place.

"Holy fucking shit, FF. I thought you thaid there wath thomething _decent_ in here." Sollux demanded, running a hand along the rusted side of an old rifle as his lips formed a thin line.

"Hey! You wanted to know if there was anything better than that piece of junk you found and this is it."

Well... She did have a point there but these guns could only get them so far.

"Do you know how to shoot?"

The sudden question caught Feferi off guard and she blinked owlishly at the lowblood for a moment before nodding, "Yes. A little anyways. Before I worked on the ship they made all of us take shooting lessons just in case a patient got out of hand and we had to resort to drastic measures but that's i-." She was sileneced as a plasma cutter- that Sollux had deemed acceptable- was shoved into her hands.

"Good, becauthe you're probably going to have to shoot thomething thooner or later."

Sollux wasn't going to trust the more high-powered weaponry with his life at all. Even though a rifle would come in handy there was a chance they wouldn't have the right ammo around. Plasma cutters had run on the same stuff since forever but when the newer advances came out on the larger weapons they'd had to upgrade the ammo along with it.

He made his way back out into the empty office and found Gamzee fucking around on one of the computers which was enough to pique Sollux's curiosity anyways. "What are you doing, GZ?" Sollux mused, making his way behind the desk he was seated at to eye the image before him. It appeared to be an interactive map of the ship and The Hive. On it were colored dots ranging between every color of the hemospectrum and some were even had symbols hovering above them.

"Hey, bring that up onto the projector."

Sollux lifted his gaze at the urgency in the girl's voice but complied, nudging aside Gamzee so he could type a few commands onto the keyboard; the image flickering into a larger, three dimensional hologram from the ceiling into the middle of the room. The lowblood remained quiet as he watched Feferi circle around it, brows furrowed. "What ith it?" He finally ventured.

"Oh, well. It's a map. The colors are actually the rigs that are still online; the color matches their part of the hemospectrum. So clearly there are still some let alive." The numbers left would be greatly reduced with time but that didn't needed to be pointed out since they all knew it. "But the symbols hovering over some of them indicate they're from the government sector. See?" She pointed to a few purple blips clustered in a group that was moving through a building; one of them sported a pair of wings after the number sequence, "That's Eridan." She explained, "He's the squad leader and squad leaders have wings added onto their suits. And I also know his serial number..." She eyed the blip a moment longer before rushing over to a spare computer chair to take a seat.  
"I need to get a message to him."

Sollux arched a brow lightly, exchanging a brief look with Gamzee who seemed just as confused. He decided to address the problem and made his way over, watching as she pulled out her touchpad, "You know they probably shut down the communication linkth by now? They won't want word of thith leaking out."

Sharp teeth dug against her bottom lip as she hunted down Eridan's number in her contact list, "I know... I tried already. But I have to keep trying." She mused, a finger hovering over the name for a moment but her touchpad was swiped away before she could press it.

"Hey!"

"Hush. You won't be able to call him but I think I can get a way through the block... Temporarily." He took a seat at a computer and grabbed a connection cable nearby to hook the touchpad up into the computer. A few minutes of scrolling through files, databases, and passcodes, his slightly slouched position of concentration straightened up and he grinned some, "There. It'll only latht while it'th hooked up to the computer but it'll get you what you want for now. I know I won't be able to override the communication lockdown entirely but if I can get to a capable computer in The Hive then I might jutht be able to hook up a bypath tho we can uthe the chat log without having to hunt down a computer every time."

For the time being, however, he relinquished the computer over to Feferi who jumped on at once.

cuttlefishCuller [CC] began trolling caligulasAquarium [CA] at 3:05

**CC: )(ey, Eridan.  
CC: ...  
CC: -ERIDAN AMPORA!  
CC: I SW-EAR TO COD YOU B-ETTA ANSW-ER M-E!  
CA: fef?  
CA: oh my cod howw did you evven  
CA: no  
CA: dont evven bother answwerin that  
CA: are you okay?  
CA: i mean  
CA: this whole fuckin place is fallin apart in a cacophany of screams and blood and  
CA: wwait  
CA: howw are you evven messagin me right noww? they shut down all comm links after all  
CC: W)(ale...  
CA: fef  
CC: I )(ad some kelp...  
CA: fef  
CA: wwho the actual FUCK is there wwith you?  
CC: O)(...  
CC: Just Captor...  
CA: FEF OH MY FUCKIN COD  
CA: YOU CANT BE SERIOUS  
CC: -Eridan, stop. Everyfin's perfectly fine! I just need )(is kelp getting off of t)(e s)(ip.  
CC: )(e's taking me to find you and t)(at's t)(at.  
CA: ...  
CC: I promise. -Everyfin will be fine.  
CC: Okay? 38)  
CA: let me talk to him**

Feferi's lips pursed softly at the sudden message she received, head swiveling to look over her shoulder at Sollux who was hovering behind her. Immediately, an irked look crossed his face.

"Do I have to talk to him?"  
"He's a very adamant seadweller..."

A long, dramatic groan slipped past his lips and he took the spot that Feferi gave over to him. Long fingers stretched out briefly before touching down on the keys to pick up the conversation where it'd left off.

twinArmaggedons [TA] began trolling caligulasAquarium [CA] at 3:09

**TA: 2up hiip2ter douche  
CA: ...  
CA: really?  
CA: i havve to trust fefs safety wwith someone wwho lacks evven the proper courtesy to introduce themselvves wwithout bein a complete jackass  
TA: woah.  
TA: calm your 2hiit, 2iir.  
TA: your fii2hy priince22 wiill be ju2t fiine.  
TA: ii know what ii'm doiing  
CA: for your sake you fuckin better  
CA: your tamperin wwith delicate packagin here  
CA: fragile  
CA: one scratch captor and i swwear to all that is good in the wworld that i wwill personally snap your scrawwny neck in half  
TA: ooooh.  
TA: te2ty.  
TA: fear not ampora,  
TA: ii want two get off of thii2 twiice fucked hiive 2y2tem a2 much a2 you two do.  
TA: but fiir2t we need to fiind each other.  
TA: care to de2iignate a meetiing place oh fii2hy one?  
CA: im goin to ignore your blatant disregard of the hemospectrum and the respect your supposed to be givvin those wwho are abovve you and instead answwer your question since clearly youre incapable of remotely strategizin  
TA: ju2t get on wiith iit.  
TA: ii'd rather NOT get 2tuck iin thii2 shiip wiith a bunch of necromorph2.  
CA: shut up  
CA: i wwas gettin to it  
CA: you knoww wwhere the recreational center is?  
TA: no.  
TA: but fef doe2 ii'm 2ure.  
TA: the nod 2he ju2t gave me i2 further confiirmatiion of the above a22umption. what of iit?  
CA: meet me there at eight wwith fef  
TA: you're comiing alone, riight?  
CA: no shit  
CA: they wwouldnt exactly take kindly to me letting the riffraff run awway  
TA: hehehehehe.  
TA: ii gue22 you're riight ampora.  
TA: iit'2 been a plea2ure chattiing wiith you.  
TA: now calm your giill2 and ju2t make 2ure you're there on tiime.**

caligulasAquarium [CA] ceased trolling twinArmaggedons [TA] at 3:12

**TA: rude.**

Sollux turned around in the swivel chair to face Feferi with a smirk, "He'th pretty pithy, ithn't he?"

Dark curls fell away from her shoulders as she shrugged in response, "I warned you, didn't I? Now let's get going. We don't have much time left before Serendipity shuts back down so we're going to have to run."

A grimace crossed his lips at once.

Running meant not being able to pay close attention to surroundings.  
Running meant making noise.  
Running was not a thing Sollux wanted to happen.

But they didn't have a choice.

"Okay." He finally complied, swallowing thickly as he rose, "Jutht... Fuck, thith ith going to thuck tho hardcore. Jutht thtay clothe. And shoot at anything that moveth." If it was another living troll they accidently shot...well, maybe they should've stayed the fuck away. If anything, they would've done the unfortunate bastard a favor rather than leaving them to a ship with necromorphs as company.

"GZ? You hear that?" Sollux snapped sharply over to the indigo-blood who had picked up a pair of scissors to examine thoughtfully. He started to attention and turned a smile onto Sollux, "'Course I did. You're the one makin' all these happenin' plans so why wouldn't I follow 'em?"


	4. Chapter 4

"Tho, where ith thith plathe exthactly?"

The whispered words seemed much louder than they probably were and Sollux couldn't help but cringe some at the slight echo that bounced off the walls of the empty hallway.

Feferi's teeth dug into her bottom lip, eyes flickering around for a moment to make sure they hadn't alerted anything before picking up her pace some to fall along Sollux's steps so as to talk quieter, "It's the recreational center. It's pretty big and has almost everything you could think of in it. Eridan'll be able to sneak away from his group long enough to come find us... Hopefully." That was the plan anyways it seemed, "Once we get off the ship, it'll be a straight shot through the northeastern transport tunnel."

"A thraight shot right through infected territory him sure... How much time do we have left?"

Feferi pulled out her touchpad to examine the clock running down across the screen, "Five minutes. But we're close. The doors are just around this corner here-..."

The conversation ground to a halt as Sollux turned the corner, the beam of his flashlight grazing across the gnarled limbs of necromorphs wandering about the entrance aimlessly and he quickly fell back around the corner before they could be spotted. "That wath _too fucking clothe_." He hissed, lifting a hand to massage at his eyes.

_Now _how were they supposed to get off the damned ship?

Sollux stared back at Feferi's fuchsia eyes in silence before he realized Gamzee was staring elsewhere. Brows furrowed softly and he quickly followed the wide-eyed look he was shooting down the hall on the opposite side of the area but it was as empty and dark as it'd been prior.

"GZ." He ventured, finally waving a hand in front of his face to try to divert his attention, "What ith it?" The hand was casually pushed aside as Gamzee took a few steps out of their hiding spot.

"Tav..."

The word was almost inaudible as it left Gamzee's mouth but before Sollux could question, Gamzee was making his way out across into the open.

_"Makara!" _Sollux hissed once more, baring his teeth in a warning snarl but it seemed to do no good and fucking shit where was he going?! A cautious look was thrown to the necromorphs a small distance away before he turned to Feferi, "We're going after him, ok? Jutht thtay on my ath and don't make any noitheth." He turned around once Feferi gave him a nod of confirmation and swallowed.

It was now or fucking never.

Crouching slightly, he took a few careful steps out, making sure to keep a close eye on the creatures who were garbling nonsense near the exit. Once they'd gotten half-way out, he picked up his pace to a brisk walk and broke into a jog once they made it into the second hallway just as Gamzee was disappearing around the corner.

Gog _damnit_ he was going to strap a leash on him when he caught the fucker!

For a fraction of a second, Sollux almost thought they were going to have to leave him. They were running out of time and if Gamzee was going to insist on running off then, damnit, that was his own fucking problem!

But just as he was getting ready to stop and turn back, he found the indigo-blood standing at the end of a dead-end hallway, posture straight and still as he stared at the panel before him. As they approached, he didn't move and Sollux frowned, "GZ." The closer he got, he realized that the male was simply staring at the glowing circle on the panel with a distant look that suggested he wasn't exactly there at the moment.

"Gamzee." Feferi tried, throwing a cautious look over her shoulder to make sure nothing was sneaking up on them in the dark.

Once they reached him, Sollux reached out a hand and grabbed onto the troll's shoulder. Immediately, Gamzee reacted, a slim hand flying back to snag Sollux's wrist in a grip that held a surprising amount of strength for how skinny he was. What was more evident was the look on his face like they'd cornered an animal who had taken up a last stand.

Sollux said nothing, settling for holding his tongue but fixated his bi-colored gaze onto Gamzee's. Gradually, the savage look slid off his face and his posture relaxed back into the lazy one he'd sported earlier.

"Where do you think you're fucking going? The exthit'th back _there_." Sollux hissed, indicating over his shoulder the way they'd come.

"Oh, yeah. But, you see, Tav told me to go this way."

"'Tav'?"

A nod.

"...Okay. Why did thith 'Tav' tell you to come down here?"

He turned, pointing towards the panel he'd been staring at earlier and Feferi approached it to give it a better look, dark lips pursing thoughtfully, "It's a panel that leads to the ventilation shafts I think. But that is a good idea!" She pointed to the map next to the panel that showed a series of passages, "Look, here we are, if we go right, then left, and right again we'll end up at the shaft opening next to the exit doors."

"Yeah, getting _in_ ith going to be the problem though." Sollux pointed out, brushing past Feferi to examine the panel. Yeah, hand-print identification and he was sure none of them had clearance into that. Reaching out a hand, his fingers ran along the edge of the panel, feeling for a button. When he found it and gave a quick press, a section screen appeared with a series of codes typed out.

"What are you looking for? We have to get going! If there's no way to get in there then we have to find another way." Feferi encouraged, giving a nervous glance down to the timer on her pad.

"Jutht..." Sollux began, bifurcated tongue sliding from between his lips in concentration as he scrolled down through the text.

"Sollux!"

"Got it!" His finger pressed down against a line of coding and highlighted over it, fingers tapping across the keyboard and replacing it with a bit of his own coding. The panel suddenly went dark, a soft clicking noise sounding for a few breaths before it flickered back online. Pressing a hand into the highlighted circle, an automated voice sounded.

_"Hello, Computer Technician; Sollux Captor."_

As the panel slid open, Sollux raised a brow, "Well? Let'th get going." He allowed Feferi up first and Gamzee next so he could keep an eye on him before crawling inside himself. Their flashlights provided little help but thankfully the circuitry running along the shaft provided some extra light though not much. "Try to be quiet." He encouraged, crawling along after the two as they started off.

It seemed to be going good until Feferi crawled across a section of the vent that bent slightly under her weight and popped back out with a metallic snap as the pressure was removed. They froze, listening for the sound of anything that could've heard them.

"I think we're oka- AHH!"

The small group gave a surprised shout as a blade suddenly wrenched through the metal like it was the top of a can inches past Feferi's shoulder, an aggravated growl sounding from the creature it was attached to as it stuck.

"Go, go, _go!_" Sollux shouted, Feferi taking the hint and crawled off with a renewed vigor with Gamzee close behind. Sollux maneuvered around the twisting appendage before quickly scurrying after the other two. A roar sounded a distance behind them and Sollux knew that the fucker had finally gotten himself free.

They reached the other end of the shaft, the panel sliding open as they approached and gave them a view of the area outisde.

"What are they all doing here?" Feferi hissed, eyeing the group and Gamzee pointed down to the splattering of rainbow painted across the floor with bits and pieces of limbs and organs scattered around.

"Poor fuckerth tried to get out when the doorth were locked." Sollux mused, putting the clues together.

Speaking of which.

"We need to go." He declared, watching the seconds count down on Fefer's timer. He slid out of the shaft, Gamzee slipping down after him and he reached out his arms to catch Feferi as she hopped out next. They moved slowly, breathing stilled as they backed away towards the open door. The sudden hiss of brakes letting loose resounded in the air and the trio froze, watching the necromorphs look towards the source.

_Shit fuck_.

Sollux gave Feferi a small push towards the door, scrambling after her with Gamzee in tow as the shrieks of the necromorphs started chasing after them. The set of metal doors had started to shut and the thought of being locked in here with no other way out only helped encourage his legs to move faster.

Somehow, they managed to slip through the crack just before it slammed shut and locked; sealing away the chorus of shrieks and growls and then...nothing. It was quiet again.

For now.

Gasping for air, Sollux wilted onto the railing, blood pusher thrumming rapidly against his ribs.

He was starting to develop a strong hate of spaceships now.

A hand on his back got his attention and he found himself looking back at Gamzee who held a small frown on his face.

Nothing needed to be said.

He nodded, swallowing thickly as he straightened up, running a hand over the back of his neck with a heavy sigh, "Yeah, we can't thtop here."

Straightening up, Sollux made his way down the ramp leading to the empty platforms. Empty for the most part anyways. Through the plexiglas coverings on the ramps, he could see a few ships still docked but the flickering lights in the windows and blood splattered on the glass was indication enough of what had happened there. One had even crashed into the side of the building at one point during take off and ripped a hole through the wall of a separate docking station.

"Come on, let'th hurry." He ushered, heading off towards the direction the exit signs were pointing. He didn't have a proper suit and he did _not_ want to be caught without it if something breached the plexiglass. "Ith thith the way?" He ventured, slowing to a stop as they reached a branching of the ramp that diverted in different directions.

Scrolling through her touchpad, the seadweller brought up a miniaturized map of the place and nodded, "Yes. We need to go straight down there and then it's a clear shot."

Sollux lifted his gaze up towards the exit sign, tilting his flashlight up to examine the symbols that had been painted across the sign. It wasn't Alternian but he was certainly familiar with it. "Shit really went down here, didn't it..." He mumbled, not expecting a response since they all knew the answer to that.

The trip down the tunnel hadn't been one of his favorite things to do that day. It was large and spacious to allow trolls to go either way to or from the platforms and to allow packages and shuttles through. But now it was empty and dark and it had nowhere to hide or run to if they were confronted with trouble. The only slight relief he got was from the steady crackling of red and blue across his hands, proof that he needed to know the sedatives he'd been put on prior to the incident had worn off for the most part.

But with that came less pleasant things.

_"Sollux."_

He froze, looking over his shoulder towards a bench from where he'd heard it. Feferi and Gamzee had continued to walk ahead for a few steps before Gamzee grabbed onto Feferi's shoulder to stop her, indicating over his shoulder back to Sollux who was staring at the bench despite the fact there was nothing there.

"Sollux?"

The yellow-blood started in surprise and glanced over at the girl, a dazed look on his face.

"What are you looking at?"

"Did-... Didn't you guyth hear that?"

Feferi's lips quirked into a frown at his question, "We didn't hear anything, Sollux, it's quiet."

His gaze slid over from Feferi to Gamzee who was looming behind Feferi. While her expression spelled concern and confusion, his own had slid into a serious look; dulled gaze suddenly sharp and piercing and his brows furrowed downwards. Their gaze met and held for a moment and Sollux would swear up and down he was trying to drill something into his head. What, exactly, he didn't know.

"You're probably just hearing the vents popping. Come on, we have to get going. I know Eridan won't be able to hold them there for long before he gets orders to move again."

Sollux wrenched his gaze away from Gamzee's with a nod, licking his lips and broke into a jog to catch up.

_That voice though..._

The recreational center _was _pretty fucking impressive and it probably would've seemed even better had it been in working order and not overrun with fucking necromorphs. Sollux tilted his head back to examine the high ceiling that was formed from, no doubt, an extremely sturdy plexiglass that covered enough room to park two Imperial battleships. But instead of battleships, the space was covered with stores, restaurants, and a fucking theme park.

Who put a fucking _theme park_ on a space station? There was no purpose for it even being there other than cheap entertainment. It wasn't even that amazing.

"Come on, we can't just stand around with our jaws open." Feferi ushered, lifting a hand to push Sollux's bottom jaw upwards to clack against his upper teeth and a flush of embarrassment stained its way across his face.

Okay, so it _was_ pretty amazing.

He fell into step alongside Gamzee who seemed as equally entertained with the setup of the place, "Tho, thith fishy douche didn't happen to give you a meeting thpot, did he?"

"Oh..."

Apparently not.

"Great. Tho _how _are we thuppothed to find him?"

"I-..." Feferi trailed off, fins perking slightly and twitched in a manner that thoroughly amused Sollux. He'd never seen fins do that before and he'd almost asked what she was diong with them exactly until he was roughly grabbed by the front of his RIG and dragged into a store with Gamzee quickly following after them once he realized they were moving again.

Holy _fuck _she was strong!

"FF, what are you doin- gah! Shit, what?!" He demanded, batting aside the hand that covered his mouth with a scowl.

"Hush, just _hush_." She encouraged, peering over the counter she'd shoved her two travel companions behind. Pursing his lips, Sollux leaned up just enough to peek over the edge. At first, he didn't see anything until a beam of light swept across the area outside. The light was joined by a few others and, soon enough, the faint purple glow of RIGs came into sight. A soldier paused, beam sweeping through the store window and Sollux slid down, dragging Feferi along with him.

"You didn't thay there'd be _thith many_." He hissed, shooting her an accusing glare and he was promptly swatted.

"I didn't _think _there'd be this many!"


End file.
